Wixie works online, so these ideas are great ways to connect to and between students for back-to-school if you are teaching face-to-face, remotely, or in a hybrid environment.
Explore these 15 back-to-school ideas for getting to know your students with Wixie. Each idea contains a direct link to a Wixie file you can assign immediately!
1. Paint a custom profile image
Have students use the Wixie paint tools to create a custom profile image for their Wixie account. Assign the Profile Image template to students to get started quickly.
When they are done painting, student can select their Profile icon and click the Set Profile Image button to make this picture the image that shows in the circle.
This also makes it easy to distinguish between students when you are viewing projects in your class list in Wixie.
Explore more resources for implementing this idea
2. Design an all-about-me table tent
Have students design an all-about-me table tent. Students follow the directions to paint and label a picture and add their name and images to show their interests. Print work as a table tent to put on desks at school or make home learning feel more like being in class at school.
Assign the Table Tent template in Wixie to get students started.
3. Enter a digital photo booth
Assign the Photobooth template in Wixie to have students capture their image and add props that tell you about their interests and passions.
4. Write “who am I?” riddles
Assign the Who Am I? template for a fun way for students to introduce themselves.
Students write clues on page one and introduce themselves using video on page two. This makes it easy to combine into a single file and project for the entire class to view and get to know each other through a guessing game.
You could also print the first page of each student's project, mix them up, and have students interview different classmates to find the right person and solve the riddle.
5. Design the perfect backpack
Students usually spend a lot of time finding the perfect backpack in the fall. Assign the backpack template to your students so they can create a design that gives you a sense of their personality and style.
6. Customize a student ID
Assign the Student Identity Card template to get to know students’ interests or share their superpowers.
The Portrait Student Identity Card template works great for students who want to create a digital-age badge with embedded video! (Click the small play button in the image above.)
7. Make math about me projects
From simple definitions, like how many pets, to making your age 3 ways, kick off your year by having assigning the Math About Me template and have students "play" with numbers to share information about themselves.
8. Use empathy
Have students interview a classmate to learn more about them. Then, assign the Empathy Map template to challenge them to interpret what they learned and show what they think this student sees, hears, thinks, and feels.
9. Character traits
Assign the Character Traits or Cluster template to get students familiar with using a cluster or character trait organizer.
You can even challenge older students to find words and phrases that begin with the same letter as their name.
10. Craft a bio poem
Kick off the year with poetry and get to know your students by assigning the Bio Poem template to guide how they share information about themselves.
11. Set Goals
Teaching students how to set goals leads them to believe in themselves (confidence) and their own power to take actions that influence their lives (agency), supporting their social-emotional learning and growth. Assign the SMART goals to have students write down, and commit to, goals for the school year.
12. Design a Vision board
Assign the Vision Board template to help students visualize their goals with photos, clip art, words, and phrases.
Print the image or add it to their device’s lock screen for a daily mind and motivation boost.
13. Dispel the myths with fact vs. opinion
We make lots of assumptions about others. Assign the Fact vs. Opinion template to have students share information about themselves that others may not have realized before and empower students in letting themselves be known.
14. Adapt your favorite book
Pattern stories are not only fun ways to support emerging readers and burgeoning writers, but you can also adapt the patterns in them to have students share information about themselves.
For example, read Mary Wore Her Red Dress by Merle Peek or listen to the original folk song. Ask students to draw pictures of themselves and write a sentence using a similar pattern to describe something they love doing.
In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming also makes for a fun all-about-me adaptation. Assign the In the Tall, Tall Grass template so students only need to add a noun and verb to the sentence before drawing their image. Perfect for emerging writers and inventive spelling.
Explore more back-to-school titles perfect for student adaptation
15. Write a collaborative story
You can use Wixie’s team feature to have students collaborate from day one. Read Five Creatures by Emily Jenkins to show students a fun way to compare and contrast features of a group. In this story, a young girl describes the five creatures in her family, comparing them differently on each page.
For back-to-school, create teams of five students and have them work together to write their own Five Creatures story as they get to know each other by comparing their similarities and differences and sharing the data.
No matter what you choose for your back-to-school project, getting to know your students helps you know your learners, establishing powerful foundations for successful differentiation.
Have a great school year filled with student authoring!
